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Can a player who grew up taking pawns, refuting gambits and hanging in tight in difficult defenses ever turn into an Alekhine? Watch out for Yasser Seirawan, a Seattle grandmaster of a Syrian father and a British mother who is branching out in an unexpected way - speculative gambits.

Seirawan still wins as before with patient, subtle end-game play. His change is in using a broader palette of strategies. This seems to beguile more than a few opponents who seem not to be able to accommodate themselves to his new modus operandi.

In the 14th Reykjavik International Open Tournament in Iceland, Seirawan shared first place with nine others: Lev Polugayevsky, Rafael Vaganian, Yuri Razuvayev and Sergey Dolmatov of the Soviet Union, Helgi Olafsson and Jon Arnason of Iceland, Thomas Ernst of Sweden, Erling Mortensen of Denmark and Nick DeFirmian of Oakland, Calif. Dividing the purse by 10 gave each a $3,000 prize.

Seirawan accomplished one of his most important victories, against Alexey Dreyev of the Soviet Union, in roaring gambit style. The American, who turned 30 on March 24, when the game was played, said, ''It was my birthday present to me.''

Seirawan has long been addicted to the austere Exchange Variation of the Slav Defense with 4 cd and is usually quite happy trying to milk the symmetrical position that arises from 4 . . . cd 5 Bf4 Nc6 6 e3 Bf5 7 Nf3 e6. But when Dreyev tried to throw him out of that path with 5 . . . Qb6, Seirawan did not shrink back from the speculative gambit with 6 e3!?

After 6 . . . Qb2, Seirawan left the known 7 Rc1 to show off his 7 Bb5!? which aimed for a more rapid development and to impede the black queen from returning to safety. After 7 . . . Nc6 8 Nge2, he was already threatening to trap the queen with 9 a3! and 10 Ra2.

Dreyev could not coax a retreat with his 18 . . . e5 - Seirawan bored in powerfully with 19 c6! ed 20 Rb7! The Russian gave his queen for rook and bishop with 20 . . . Bc6 21 Rf7 Kf7, hoping to get an end game that would allow him some chance to survive.